2018 Kamloops Film Festival: Adventures in Public School

This jam-packed comedy revolves aroundthe awkward protagonist Liam, who has been home-schooled by his overprotective mother. Fueled by teenage hormones, Liam becomes weary of his sheltered life and intentionally flunks his graduation equivalency exam so that he can attend public school.

Daniel Doheny delivers a convincing performance as the gawky science geek Liam as he encounters the typical growing painsthat come along with living life outside of a sheltered bubble. Meanwhile,Judy Greer, taking on the role of thesuffocatingmother, masters the art of embodying the amusingly overbearing guardian. The pair make the ideal mother/son duo and trigger a lot of laughs and cringe-worthy moments as they explore the themes of rebellion, sex and drugs.

Director Kyle Rideout succeeds in his ambition of creatingan entertaining twist on a feel good film that takes a couple jabs at the state of the public education system. However, the project fell short at some points as the plot gets off to a very slow start that accelerates into overdrive in a sequence of jumbled events.

Still very much entertaining, this film is ideal for anyone in the mood for shallow humor and interested in learning some fun facts about physics.